A 28-year-old Watrous man, on Friday, Aug. 23, had police on a wild, three-hour chase down highways, prairie trails and across farm fields.
It all ended in Last Mountain Lake, at Etters Beach, where the Mounties finally caught their man by fishing him out of the lake.
The Friday night chase began at about 5:30 when Const. Brendan Fonteyne of the Watrous RCMP detachment responded to a complaint of a suspicious vehicle parked in an alley in Watrous.
That suspicious vehicle turned out to be the truck that was reported stolen from Fast Toys for Boys trailer dealership in Davidson.
Terry Dieno, owner of Fast Toys for Boys, said they noticed the truck, which is a dualee pick up truck they use to tow RVs from Indiana to Davidson, missing the morning of Thursday, Aug. 22.
The thief drove through the fence surrounding the dealership, demolishing about 100 feet of it, to make his escape.
Dieno reported the stolen truck to Craik RCMP.
The next day, Dieno was notified that police had spotted his truck in Watrous.
However, Dieno’s truck didn’t stay in Watrous long.
Fonteyne said when he went to check out the truck, the driver took off, driving south out of Watrous on Highway 668. Fonteyne tried to pull over the vehicle but the driver fled across a grain field south of Watrous where a farmer was swathing. Fonteyne said the suspect then traded trucks, taking the farmer’s truck, a 2013 GMC Sierra, and took off again.
By now, four RCMP cruisers were involved in the chase, with Watrous and Craik RCMP detachments each supplying two vehicles.
Fonteyne said the officers lost sight of the suspect vehicle while he was fleeing across a field, heading back to Davidson.
The thief didn’t stay lost for long.
Dieno said when police notified him that they’d spotted his truck he was about to go flying in his plane, so he offered to look for his truck.
Dieno said he usually flies eastward out of town, but police advised him to go south towards Craik.
While he was still heading east, Dieno said he saw headlights coming down a prairie trail.
He took a look at the truck, but it wasn’t his, so he was about to head south, when he got an update that the suspect had abandoned Dieno’s truck and stole a different one.
Dieno said he asked police for a description of the vehicle and realized he had flown right over top of the thief.
To read more please see the Sept. 2 print edition of The Davidson Leader.
Category Archives: featured
Elbow mayor resigns, voters head to polls in fall
Voters in Elbow will be heading to the polls in October to elect a new mayor following the resignation of William Nike late last month.
According to the minutes at the July 25 special meeting of Elbow Village council the last act Nike undertook as mayor before resigning was outlining the abusive and aggressive behaviour towards village staff members that took place during the week of July 15 to 19. After handing in his resignation and leaving council chambers shortly afterwards, the first decision Elbow council passed was a policy that aggressive and abusive behaviour would not be tolerated towards village staff and a notice of this policy would be placed in the village office, shop and on the village website.
Colleen Hoppenreys, acting mayor of Elbow, said it is with great regret that council had to accept Nike’s resignation. She said Nike’s time on village council first as a councillor and then as mayor was never connected with individual gain.
“He was there for the village and wanted the best for the village,” said Hoppenreys. “He was always trying to improve things here.”
Hoppenreys could not comment on what policy changes made by council that prompted the threats, but said no other members of council were subject to the abusive behaviour exhibited by some ratepayers.
“I think if you try to make changes, they’re just not happy about some of the changes,” she said. “I think that is what really brought this on. I think it’s more just verbal abuse and changing our policies that is not acceptable here.”
Yvonne Jess, chief administrative officer of Elbow, said the threatening behaviour by ratepayers towards Nike, his wife and village staff members occurred in the office, the village shop and in the evening when the mayor was out in public. She said the RCMP is currently collecting statements from people in the village about the matter and could not comment further on what happened.
To read more please see the Aug. 26 print edition of The Davidson Leader.
Sign theft saddens community
Family and friends of the late Michael Hertz are devastated after a walking trail sign that was put up shortly before his death was stolen earlier this summer.
Susan Anholt, secretary-treasurer of Kenaston and District Chamber of Commerce, said the sunset “Mick’s Way” Bonnington Springs Walking Trail sign was taken from its spot at the east end of the trail sometime between the middle of June and the beginning of July. She said the sign has tremendous value to the community as it celebrates the life of one of their most-loved residents.
“Mick Hertz was just an incredibly popular school teacher and he wanted the walking trail, so just as a member of the village he went to the village council and made a proposal for it, laid out the route and got permission,” said Anholt, noting Hertz was battling prostate cancer at the time. “I had the honour of helping him and lots of days when we were working on this he was so sick from (chemotherapy) and whatever else they were doing to him, but he kept on trucking.
“The final bit he was too ill to complete it, but we got the sign up as quickly as we could and had a picture taken of him and myself when the signs were up. He passed away after that.”
Anholt said a couple ladies walking the trail on July 4 first discovered the sunset sign was missing. She said the sunrise sign at the west end of the park is still there and nothing else appeared to be touched.
“These are big redwood signs and they are beautiful,” she said, adding each sign is worth around $700. “For whatever reason someone thought they needed it more than we did, so that’s sad. I suspect someone with a friend named Mick just thought ‘oh, this is cute. We’ll just take it to our buddy Mick.’ That’s my guess because what really would you want this for.”
Regan Firby, the daughter of Michael Hertz, said her father decided to propose a walking trail for Kenaston because it would give the community a place to enjoy the beauty of the village. She said they would like the sunset sign returned for the principle of it and not the cost of putting up a replacement.
“It’s a man who put a lot of hard work into this,” said Firby. “When the trail was built my dad was sick, so he was out there helping and it’s kind of heartbreaking that somebody would take it. I hope the person that took it doesn’t understand the significance of it. That would be extra sad.”
Anholt said the village has not reported the theft to the RCMP, but are trying to raise awareness about the sign and gain any information on its whereabouts through other means such as a facebook page. She said if anyone has any information on the missing sign to please contact the Kenaston and District Chamber of Commerce or the Village Office.
Hanley outdoor enthusiast competes in Yukon River Quest
Amy Peters admits she was a little concerned before she embarked on an essentially non-stop 715-kilometre canoe race through the lakes of the Yukon earlier this summer, but the idea of confronting that challenge and raising some money for a good cause was too much for her to pass up.
“It is very much in line with the mission of Outward Bound and one of the mottos that we use is that there is more in you than you think,” said Peters, a former outdoor leadership trainer with the organization. “A lot of times as we’re working with students, whether they’re hiking or canoeing, they are very challenged physically and we always see them do amazing things and push past the limit they think they have.
“A piece of (this) is just exploring that for myself.”
Peters, 31, tested her limits by competing in the June 26 to 29 Yukon River Quest “Race to the Midnight Sun” along with nine other former staff and alumni of Outward Bound Canada in a mixed voyageur canoe of the same name. The team finished third in their class and 12th overall in the 62-team race completing the trek with a time of 50 hours and 20 minutes and also managed to raise around $16,000 for abused women in the process.
“One of our goals was to raise money for a program that we run called Women of Courage and it is typically about eight days of an expedition that is offered to woman survivors of abuse,” she said, adding at last count they had raised around $16,000. “We found that (the program) is part challenge for them, which helps them. It helps people to realize how strong they are and it’s just also part of the healing journey as they recover from abusive relationships.”
As far as she knows, Peters was the only Saskatchewan resident to compete in the race that brings together around 180 of the top paddlers from around the world. All of these outdoor enthusiasts complete the course in one of the different classes of tandem canoe, tandem kayak, solos and voyageur canoes, but have the same goal in mind of crossing the finish line first.
“The first stretch we did was 22 hours in the boat without getting out and then we had our first rest stop which was seven hours,” she said, noting the race began in Whitehorse and the first stop was at Carmacks. “Then again you get in the boat and you go again until your second rest stop. You get a quick three-hour nap in and then you finish it off.”
Peters said the second time in the boat was around 20 hours before the last three-hour rest at Kirkman Creek, but she can’t be sure because things were getting “a little fuzzier” during that time. She said the team then hit the water again completing the last 100 miles in about eight to 10 hours before finally crossing the finish line at Dawson City.
To read more please see the Aug. 12 print edition of The Davidson Leader.
Council approves “small” tax rebate
Davidson town council is issuing ratepayers a rebate on their residential taxes this year after receiving numerous complaints over the past few weeks about the huge jump in people’s tax bills.
Davidson Mayor Clayton Schneider said council decided to approve the rebate, which comes to $1.24 per $1,000 of a homeowner’s taxable assessment on their property, at their monthly council meeting last Tuesday because an error was made when preparing the 2013 taxes. He said $49,650 that should have been put on commercial taxes was put on residential instead resulting in Davidson homeowners being overcharged and town businesses being undercharged.
“It can’t be reversed, so that’s why we went with that rebate,” said Schneider. “They couldn’t be reissued. I wish. That was the first thing I asked was can we, whoever has paid their taxes, give them a credit and just redo it and reissue taxes. The answer I guess was no.”
Schneider said the main reason people are seeing such a jump in their tax bill is because this is a reassessment year and most properties went up in value. He said the six per cent increase in municipal taxes instituted this year was not the culprit.
“I think what was overlooked was the assessment year,” he said, noting the town’s residential assessment doubled this year to $40 million. “We weren’t prepared for an assessment that hasn’t been as high as 1997. It jumped that much. Davidson is not the only (town) facing these concerns right now. It is the entire province. Talking to people from Leader, Outlook, all those places, they saw the same thing we did. It’s a gigantic jump.”
Bud Prpick said his residential tax bill for his home on McGregor Street was $1,000 higher this year than last. He said the jump came as a shock because he received no warning this was coming.
“I expected a raise, but not $1,000,” said Prpick. “I think I can get by with it, but we’re senior citizens and actually we’ve got no more income coming. Just a little bit of pension and stuff.”
Davidson councillor Jason Shaw said a committee has been formed with council members and administration to try and figure out where the changes are in the rates from last year to this year and what council can do to help. He said the main problem that council has faced about this situation is homeowners have been asking questions about why their taxes went up and councillors don’t have a solid idea of what the tax situation in Davidson is.
To read more please see the July 22 print edition of The Davidson Leader.
Patrons lack information for pasture transition
The Community Pasture Patrons Association (CPPAS) is calling on the federal government to grant an option of a one-year delay in the transfer of the first 10 federal community pastures to patron controlled operations for the 2014 grazing season.
Ian McCreary, chair of CPPAS, said pasture patrons groups looking to develop business plans to take control of the pastures are not able to do so due to inadequate business information that is being provided to them. He said patrons groups do not know if the federal non-reversionary land on the pastures will be part of the pastures in the future, whether non-fixed assets including bulls and machinery should be included in the patrons business plans and if it would be the patrons responsibility to cover the costs of invasive and noxious weeds.
“Put yourself in our shoes,” said McCreary Your being asked to go into business with 30 to 50 other people depending upon which pasture you’re in to take on the lease of some land (and) it’s not clear how much land, it’s not clear whether or not you get the headquarters, it’s not clear whether or not you should be building the bulls into your business plan and you have to have it done by the end of October and this is your busiest time of the year. That’s not reasonable.”
The first 10 federal community pastures scheduled to transfer to patron operation for the 2014 grazing season are: Estevan-Cambria, Excel, Fairview, Ituna-Bon Accord, Keywest, Lone Tree, McCraney, Newcombe, Park and Wolverine.
McCreary said it is the federal government that has the capacity to put this transition in a delay, as it was the federal government that initiated the process. He said the government must recognize that their time frame for the transition of these first 10 pastures is unreasonable.
“If the federal government continues to be completely unreasonable then it puts an unreasonable pressure on the province and then we have to try and work with the province to try and find a way to bridge the difference,” he said. “That becomes more complicated (and) certainly not very fair to the province. Certainly we would try and work with the province to make that happen if the (federal community pastures) remain in transition.”
To read more please see the July 15 print edition of The Davidson Leader.